


Wake Up

by DreamingStoriesInOurSleep



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bottom Peter Parker, Boys Kissing, Character Death, Delusions, Grinding, I'm Sorry, M/M, Mild Gore, Mind Games, Multiverse, Oral Sex, Poor Peter Parker, Top Stephen Strange, Whump, Whumptober 2020, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:48:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 21,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26856211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingStoriesInOurSleep/pseuds/DreamingStoriesInOurSleep
Summary: In this "chapter-a-day" upload for Whumptober, try to keep up as Peter deals with what can only be explained by "mind fuckery".Can you keep up?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Stephen Strange, Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 50
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't like anything listed in the tags, don't read...
> 
> Also, try to be nice to not only me but any others, this is a safe and kind Ao3 account. 
> 
> Love you all! xx

Peter walked through the door to the Sanctum, a trail of thick red liquid oozing from his torn suit. He could hear the patter of the blood hitting the wooden floorboards. 

"Stephen..." He rasped out, his voice breathy and barely loud enough, but the pained gasp he released when he tried to inhale too quickly was loud enough to alert Wong who came rushing to his side, or at least he thinks that's Wong, he can't really hear past the rushing of blood in his ears. 

Or see.

When did everything get so dark? 

"PETER!" He recognised that voice, the timbre of it calmed him and he relaxed into the firm mattress beneath him. He frowned, it was too hard...and cold. Where was he? 

"Kid?" Peter spun around to find Tony looking at him with a shocked face and tears in his eyes. 

"Mr Stark?" Peter gasped. "How are you-? I mean- but- y-you died..." The boy sobbed as his mentor pulled him into his arms, the instant flood of memories rushing back to him as he inhaled Tony's scent. 

"Pete, kid. You have to wake up." Peter jerked back, as if he was shocked by static electricity and when he opened his eyes he was met with a bright surgical light and a sharp pain at his side. 

He sat up suddenly and screamed, fighting the hands trying to hold him down, continuing to scream as someone shouted for restraints whilst another familiar voice barked orders for more morphine and to get the vibranium cuffs. 

That voice...

They knew he was strong, but he couldn't think too long on it before darkness slipped back in. 

This time, there was nothing. Just blackness, so dark he could have sworn his eyes were still closed, clamped shut like a child who was scared after hearing something go bump in the night. 

"With great power, comes great responsibility, Peter." Uncle Ben's voice echoed through the inky darkness and slithered into his ear. 

"I'm so sorry I didn't do more for you." Peter said, saddened by the memory of how his Uncle Ben died.   
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." 

A warm hand laid itself on his shoulder and he looked up to see his Uncle Ben. "Then listen to me now. Wake up." 

And it was like someone attached a bungee cord to his waist and it was pulled taught and suddenly it was pulling him away from Uncle Ben, but he was going so fast he couldn't catch his breath to scream, or cry, or to even gasp. 

"Peter?" He heard a soft, familiar voice call out for him and he sat up in bed, gasping. His side no longer hurt and he put that up to the fact that there was nothing there, he must have been dreaming about the wound, the fight. 

He pulled the IV from his arm, rubbing over the area to soothe the slight sting of the needle slipping from his vein. 

He shivered as his bare feet made contact with the wooden boards and he tentitavely walked out of his room that he always had set up for him at the Sanctum. 

That was a decision made for him by Stephen when he found the boy gravitating towards him after Tony Stark's death. Peter tried to protest but eventually his shoulders sagged and he mumbled out a quiet "Thank you Doctor Strange." To which the wizard waved his hand and told Peter that 'Stephen' was fine, but didn't stop the smile when Peter Thanked him again with his proper title. 

Peter peered around the corner of the door frame and looked down the hall to see lights coming from the kitchen and the heavenly smell of Wong's pork and spring onion dumplings, to which his stomach growled. 

"Someone is hungry!" And Peter nearly snapped his neck with how fast it turned to see Tony walk past him and into the kitchen to profess how amazing dinner smelt and if it was ready. 

"C'mon kid! It's going cold!" Tony shouted and when Stephen poked his head out of the kitchen he noticed Peter standing there, frozen with tears streaming down his face. 

"Peter? Peter?" Stephen asked, gently shaking him.   
"PETER!" He heard the wizard scream, but his lips weren't moving. "Please, wake up"....


	2. Chapter 2

He could feel himself trembling, practically vibrating as he stumbled back into his room and slammed the door in Stephen's face. 

He couldn't breathe and he could faintly hear all three men calling out to him. 

His room was warded, which meant that no matter if Stephen or Wong wanted to come in, they couldn't. 

He slumped to the floor, back pressed against the door and knees pulled up to his chest as he hyperventilated. 

"Peter. Peter, please open the door." He could hear Stephen beg him through the old dark-stained wood. 

"Kid, can you talk to us?" Tony asked softly, which caused Peter to clamp his hands over his ears and scream in upset frustration. 

"You're not real! This isn't real! You're dead!" And Peter crumbled into sobs when he finished. 

"Please. Please, I need you to wake up, Peter!" He could hear the wizard in his head and he whimpered in confusion and frustration, clenching his eyes shut, hot tears leaving fat, wet streaks to cool on his red cheeks. 

He opened his eyes again and wiped his dry eyes, confused to find that there was no moisture there. He turned his head up towards the noise he could hear which was soon discovered to be the steady beeping of the heart monitor. 

Frowning he looked around the room, which was amazingly bright and clean, so he was in hospital...a private room, he assumed. A figure to the left of him snored softly and if it wasn't for the scars running up and down his fingers, he wouldn't have been able to identify Stephen due to the unkempt appearance of the wizard. 

Just looking at him brought tears to Peter's eyes and he tried to speak, tried to beg for Stephen to hold him but all that came out was a whimper.

But that was enough. 

Before the older man opened his eyes, he squeezed Peter's hand and his eyes snapped open when the boy's soft, unmarred hand squeezed back. 

"Peter?!" Stephen got to his feet and called for someone by pressing the nurse alert button above the head of his hospital bed. "How are you awake?" He panted frantically, pacing and then finally came to a stop when he looked at Peter and saw the tears. 

"Oh baby." The wizard took two strides over to the bed and held Peter's face in his hands, pressing his lips against the others. "I thought I lost you." 

And Peter couldn't stop the tears from falling freely, asking for some water so he could tell Stephen just how much he loved him. 

He was grateful for the cool liquid coating his lips and throat, audibly gasping in pleasure at the feeling of drinking again after what felt like years in a barren land.

"I love you." He whispered, loosing his hold of Stephen's hand as the nurses began to wheel him away to get scans and run tests. 

He was home, he was safe. 

"Ok Mr. Parker, I am your Doctor. We didn't get a chance to meet yet. I am Dr. Stark, but you can call me Anthony."


	3. Chapter 3

Screams echoed down the halls of the hospital where they had placed Peter in the psych ward after having, what the staff believed, was a mental break down. 

\- 2 hours ago -   
"You're not real!" Peter screamed, sheer terror evident in his voice as he jumped up off the bed, not even noticing the pain from the IV being ripped from his skin, blood starting to drip down his arm. 

"Peter!" He could hear Stephen call to him, but he was so lost and afraid that it wasn't the real Stephen. His Stephen.

"Mr. Parker, please, if you don't calm down we will have to restrain you." Dr. Stark said, trying not to scare the young male, and the blood caught the doctor's attention. 

"Pete..." Dr. Stark started, but Peter screamed at him to not call him that. 

"You don't get to call me that! Only Mr. Stark gets to call me that!" The doctor looked confused but he recovered quickly and corrected himself. 

"Mr. Parker, we need to treat that." He indicated to the blood slowly dripping off his fingertips, but the movement of the nurses gathering things needed to sedate him caused Peter to hyperventilate. They were looking at him like they were trying to stop a wild animal. 

Was that what he was to them?  
A wild animal that had escaped and running amok?

He stared down the large male nurse holding the needle of clear liquid and pointed a finger towards him. "Don't you fucking touch me!" 

Dr. Stark placed a hand on the nurse's shoulder and told him to step down, wanting to try and calm the patient without medical assistance. He took two steps before Peter sobbed and begged him to go away. 

"Please. Why are you torturing me? Why can't you just leave me alone? You're meant to be dead, you died in my arms..." The boy hiccuped into his hands, sniffling and coughing occasionally from the overuse of his throat. 

Dr. Stark moved forward tentitavely and got to his knees in front of Peter who managed to curl up in the corner of the surgical room, smearing blood on his hospital gown. 

Peter jumped when the doctor gently placed his hand on the boy's knee, and that small amount of contact was all it took for Peter to leap into the doctor's arms and sob openly as he babbled about being sorry and not doing more to save him.

Dr. Stark's heart broke for the young male who obviously has experienced some trauma, so he rubbed his palms over Peter's back to try and soothe him while he motioned for the large male nurse to sedate him. 

As soon as he felt the sting of the needle, Peter reared back to look him in the eye with a betrayed gasp. 

"Tony..." and it all went black. 

\- Present -  
"Let me out!" Peter screamed, trying to claw at the bindings on his wrists, which were placed there after he woke up and ripped his bandages off of his arm, dislodging the stitches he needed when the IV was forcibly removed from his vein. 

He exhausted himself after a while and when his voice finally gave out he relaxed back against the hospital bed and whimpered. 

"Stephen...I want Stephen." He cried and the nurse finally walked in, holding a cup of what looked like water. 

"Mr. Parker? Can I call you that?" She was a nice woman, red cheeks and black hair with kind eyes, the same colour as Aunt May. 

"Peter." He rasped out, which caused a small smile to grace the nurse's lips.

"Hello, Peter. My name is Katherine and I am your nurse. I'm going to take really good care of you." She put a small paper straw in the plastic cup and sat on the edge of Peter's bed. "Am I able to remove your bindings?" She asked, not so much out of consent, but more as a deal that he behaves and they can come off. 

With a meek "Please", the buckles were released and Peter rubbed his wrists and sat up, still allowing the nurse to guide the straw between his lips due to the shaking of his hands being too severe. 

He downed the entire glass before realising the sweet and sour flavour, Katherine already knowing what he was going to ask. 

"Honey Lemon Iced water to help with your throat." She cautiously placed her hand on top of his shaking one and he looked at her like he was a kicked puppy. 

"I'm sorry." He said, a tear slipping down his cheek, which she caught with her thumb. 

"Don't apologise, I've seen worse. I'll go and get your partner?" She asked, and Peter nearly gave himself a head rush with how fast he nodded in approval. 

She poured him another glass of the flavoured water and left to retrieve Stephen, Peter relaxing back against the pillow. 

He must have dozed off because when he opened his eyes again Stephen was holding his hand while he read an old book from the Sanctum that he quickly closed when he noticed Peter looking at him. 

"Hey baby." The older man smiled, rubbing his thumb over Peter's knuckles. 

"I want to go home."


	4. Chapter 4

Days blurred together and Peter soon became placid to his medications and routine of meals and outdoor times. 

He only ever perked up when Nurse Katherine and Stephen visited him.

Peter was currently sat in his room on the ledge of the window sketching in the small book that was rewarded to him from Katherine after a week of good behaviour, Stephen showing him different origami to make each day that he visited. It took him another two weeks of good behaviour to earn a stick of charcoal. 

His walls were covered in charcoal sketches of anything that he could see from his small, barred windowsill. Birds and butterflies were common, and at night time just before lights out moths and small insects would visit in search of the light emanating from his room. 

His favourite animal sketches were of the small black widow spider that would come out of it's hiding spot to feast on some of the bugs attracted to the light that managed to get caught up in the deadly creature's web. 

The spider reminded him of Natasha, beautiful and deadly. He called the small arachnid Nat, in honour of his fallen team mate, which gave him this sense of calm that he, so far, has never felt whilst alone in here.

In fact, he has managed to assign most of the people or creatures he sees on a day to day basis with the names of his Avengers team mates, creating a small safe world in his mind. 

The male nurse who was kind but didn't talk often was known to Peter as Bucky, the smaller yet friendlier blonde nurse was Steve. 

The small bee that came to visit him every second day was Hope, while the small ghost spider was called Ava. 

There was a small black cat that followed behind a golden retriever who was oblivious to the small creature were T'Challa and Thor, while the thin and mighty praying mantis was known as Bruce. 

He also met a fellow patient who was deaf, but Peter allowed him to use his charcoal when the nurses weren't looking so they could write messages to each other.  
That was Clint, one of his favourites. 

He was currently drawing a small rabbit that was chewing the green grass on the other side of the fence, when a knock on the door alerted him to a visitor and he put the charcoal down, wiping his darkened fingertips on the small rag Katherine gave him after getting sick of telling him not to wipe his fingers on his hospital pants. 

Stephen walked in and Peter jumped to his feet, rushing over to hurl himself into the older man's arms, pressing kisses all over the wizard's face, causing Stephen to laugh and pull back enough to look over Peter's face. 

"You get more and more beautiful everyday." Stephen said, wiping the charcoal smudges from the boy's brow. "What are you working on, baby?" 

Peter jumped down and pulling the older man by his hand over to the window, he points out a rabbit at the fence and then down to his drawing. 

"I've called her Pepper, because she is elegant and beautiful, but quick and smart at the same time as being protective." Peter said happily, making the wizard's heart ache for the boy. 

As it was with all of Peter's 'friends', Stephen saw nothing out of the window. "Peter?" Stephen said, asking cautiously, as he did everyday and waiting until he had his full attention before continuing. 

"Do you think you will be able to come home soon?" And this caused Peter to worry and look up at the man in confusion. 

"That's not up to me, Stephen."

"But it is...you just have to wake up."


	5. Chapter 5

Like a window or a mirror being hit with a blunt force, major cracks formed in Peter's world and soon big chunks of coloured glass-like material fell before him. 

Eventually Stephen's face grew hairline cracks and he too began to disintegrate, Peter rushing over to try and hold his face together, sobbing as the shards began to slice his palms, but he didn't dare let go. 

"Please don't leave me." He sobbed to Stephen who opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was the same words he had just uttered. 

"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up." Terrified of the man before him whose lips weren't moving but the words getting louder until the boy had to release Stephen's face to cover his ears, leaving crimson red handprints on his lover's cheeks. 

Peter stumbled backwards, hitting the wall of his room and falling through it, the sound of the glass shattering around him as he began to fall into a pit of nothingness, not able to hear his screams over the wind in his ears. 

Then suddenly...

"Kid..." Peter heard as if someone was talking directly to him, the sound of the wind and breaking glass gone. "Kid! Wake up!"

Peter gasped, sitting up from the hard tarmac beneath him and looked up to see the faceplate of Iron Man looking down at him before it slid open to reveal the worried expression of Tony. 

"Kid, you alright?" His mentor asked and instead of being fearful of coming face to face with Tony once more, he was more concerned about Stephen. 

"Where is Stephen?" He asked, looking down at his hands to find that instead of covered in blood, they were covered in his Spider-Man suit. 

"Who the hell is Stephen?" Tony asked, confused and sounding a little worried. "You must have hit your head pretty hard. You're done, kid." And with that he flew off, warning about calling Aunt May if he didn't stay down. 

Then he was falling again, this time finding himself in the car with Tony by his side and he knew that the man was reaching for the door, but the need to touch him again, the need to hold him and feel his warmth after so long without it was too great to stop himself from snaking his arms around him. 

"This isn't a hug, I'm just getting the door." And then the door was opened and he was falling again, finding himself sitting on a climbing frame, dripping with water and cold to his bones and unable to stop the thoughts entering his mind. Asking if this is what being dead feels like. A chill that you can't shake, running deep to your bones.

Is this what Tony feels now?

Laying cold and dead in his coffin?

"I'm sorry." He said, bottom lip trembling as he remembered his last seconds with the man he idolised, the suit hovering before him relaying the message to Tony who told him about this being dangerous. 

"Don't be sorry, just be safe. Let me and the big leagues deal with this guy." And once more, Peter was falling through the frame and the bark and he landed hard on his feet, hearing himself talking about how if only cared he would be there, wincing at how unkind he was, knowing that it was a low blow and regretting his words. 

Tony stepped out of the suit and even though he knew he cowered from the man when he first experienced this, Peter couldn't stop himself running full bolt at Tony and embracing him, sobbing out apologies and begs for forgiveness. 

"Peter?" The voice that came from above him was Tony's, but it sounded more official and cold. The boy looked up to see Dr. Anthony Stark and he pushed himself backwards from the man like he had been burnt. 

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Peter snapped, grabbing whatever was closest and hurling it at the imposter, alerting the Bucky and Steve nurses to the commotion and rushing into the room. 

"Peter. It's ok, you're safe." The male nurse that Peter called 'Bucky' soothed him, before turning to the blonde nurse who was stood next to the Doctor and growling to him to get Katherine.

Peter began sobbing when he saw the nurse he knew as 'Steve' walk straight through the door where Dr. Stark was standing not 5 seconds ago. 

Bucky stroked Peter's hair to calm him whilst he waited for Katherine to join them, lulling Peter into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!!  
> NSFW Chapter ahead...enjoy 😉😏😈

Peter awoke to the sounds of people arguing just outside of his door. 

"What do you mean you can't find him?!" Stephen hissed. "Both of you ran passed him when Peter was having his breakdown!" 

"Sir, to be frank, we were more concerned with Peter's health than we were with the doctor in his room." That was Steve, Peter thought with a small smile, hearing that they cared for him. 

"What does this mean for Peter's recovery?" Stephen asked, sounding upset at the possibility of Peter getting worse before he gets better. 

"He should be ok, but we need to get him to talk to us as to why he is experiencing these episodes." Katherine stated, looking into the room and perking up when she sees Peter's wide eyes watching the group. "He's awake." She said, placing a gentle hand on Stephen's shoulder, which causes the man to swivel on the spot and walk quickly to Peter's side. 

"Peter." He breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled the boy into his arms. "Are you ok?" The older man fussed, looking him over as if he was in a physical altercation. 

Peter nodded then shivered when he remembered being in the arms of Dr. Stark. "Do you think you could talk to us, Peter?" Bucky asked as he sat on the other side of the bed, gently rubbing his back, which caused Peter to slightly lean into the touch of the nurse he has come to trust. 

He whimpered, shaking his head furiously and trying to bury his face further into the wizard's neck. "Hey, it's ok baby." Stephen soothed, running his fingers through Peter's hair. "When ever you are ready," he emphasised the 'are'. "We will be right here to listen and support you, and no matter what, you won't be in trouble." 

Stephen felt the boy press a kiss to his neck and that was all the confirmation he needed to signal the three nurses that they were ok. 

Katherine did her final check ups and asked if Peter needed anything, to which he meekly asked for a glass of the "special water" and nodding with a smile, Katherine went to get Peter some of the flavoured water. 

"Special water?" Stephen asked with a smirk which caused Peter to let out a giggle. 

"It's a really delicious flavoured water that helps when my throat is sore after lots of yelling." Peter said, a slight squeak revealing how sore the boy's throat must be. 

Stephen pulled the boy down so that they could lay on his bed together, pressing a kiss to his forehead after Katherine delivered the water and Peter downed it in one go. 

Peter reached up and connected his lips to Stephen's, the older man groaning into the boy's mouth as his tongue tried to chase away the sweet flavoured water and taste Peter, pure and unadulterated. 

Peter whimpered, for once not in pain or distress, as he grinded forward against the man's hipbone, causing Stephen to grab a fistful of his hair and tell him to behave in a husky voice. 

"Please." Peter begged, wanting more from his lover. "Stephen, please...I need you." 

"Baby, we can't." Stephen said. "What if someone comes in and sees us?" And unbelievably, Peter keened as if that was what he wanted, so Stephen flipped them over, nipping at his lover's neck. "Peter Benjamin Parker, you little devil." 

Stephen swiftly removed the boy's clothing, kissing each inch of new skin that was revealed to him, before finally making his way to the waistband of Peter's underwear and looking up, questioning his consent. 

Peter buried his fingers in Stephen's hair and arching his back, looking sinful as ever, begged the older man to keep going. 

As soon as his underwear was removed, Stephen wasted no time in taking the boy's leaking cock into his mouth and swallowing him down the entire way, trying to restrain his primal want of grinding against the bed to allow himself some pleasure while being tortured with the sweet little keens, pants and gasps as Peter grew ever closer to the edge. 

White hot sparks burst behind Peter's clenched eyelids as Stephen played with his balls, but once his waves of ecxtasy subsided, Peter flipped them over again and wasted no time in attempting to take Stephen all the way to the base of his cock. 

The wizard tries to not be too loud, but the pure pleasure coursing through him makes him groan loudly and thrust up until he hits the back of the boy's throat, Peter humming in pleasure is all that it takes for Stephen to spill into his mouth and gasp in sensitivity as the boy continued to swallow around him until the very last drop. 

The older man pulled Peter up to kiss him and taste himself on the boy's tongue, only pulling away when the need for air was stronger than the need to feel Peter's lips on his. "Fuck, you're perfect." Stephen pressed a kiss to the boy's temple.

Peter smiled, blissfully laying his head on Stephen's chest and listened to his breathing, letting the soothing steady beat of his heart gently lull him to-. 

"Stephen, I can't hear your heart." Peter looked up and in place of where Stephen just was, lay Tony Stark's dead, cold body. 

Peter doesn't know if he has ever let out a scream that loud or high pitched before, but what he does know, is that there was bound to be a large colourful bruise on his hip where he landed on it after pushing himself away from the corpse and falling off the bed.


	7. Chapter 7

He didn't understand, the people crowded around him were trying to ask him questions, but he couldn't hear them. 

It was like being trapped underwater, everything muted and in slow motion as he watched the paramedics remove the body from his room on a stretcher bed under a white cloth. 

He didn't realise he was trembling until Stephen's hand was cupping his cheek and he breathed in a sigh of relief at the familiar feeling, the noise of the room coming back to him as Stephen managed to ground him in the moment. 

"Where did the body come from, Peter?" Bucky asked, Peter only now realising he had his arms wrapped tightly around the male nurse who has been sitting next to him this whole time. 

"I-I don't know. I thought it was Stephen." The boy's voice trembled and ended up trying to push more into Bucky's embrace, terrified that if he got too close to Stephen again he would be replaced by a dead body. 

"What did you think you were doing with Stephen?" Bucky asked, to which Peter blushed and shook his head, lowering it and not looking at anyone. 

"I don't want to be here anymore." The boy said and looked up to Katherine who was talking with the police officer and security guard who occasionally patrols this floor. 

"We are working on getting you a new room." Bucky told the boy.

"We will bring everything with you. Your drawings, your origami and even your drawing pad and charcoal, if you want them?" Steve said, standing at the wall and ready to start collecting the papers. 

Stephen stood up to help Steve clear the art, but Peter grabbed his wrist and whined in the back of his throat at the idea of the wizard leaving his side, even if he was afraid of his presence. 

They got Peter situated in his new room, to which he was happy with because of being closer to Clint as well as the nurse's station. 

Peter didn't want to be left alone with Stephen, but Bucky insisted that he needed to tend to other patients and, as carefully and gently as he could, told Peter that he wasn't allowed to go with him on his rounds. 

"You don't love me anymore." Peter heard Stephen say behind him when Bucky finally compromised with the boy that he could leave his door open. 

"What did you say?" Peter asked, almost unable to believe that the older man would say such a thing, but the look on Stephen's face was almost a mirror image of his own confusion. 

"I didn't say anything, Peter." And then, he heard it again, but this time he knew that Stephen couldn't have said it, because his lips weren't moving.

"You've never loved me. I was always just a stand in for Stark, and now you want him." The harsh tone making Peter back up and whimper, trying to get the words out of his head. 

"You're a pathetic child that uses people, and then when you are done with them, you throw them away until there is nothing of them left." Peter let out a sob and Stephen tried to help him, but the boy couldn't hear him over the voice in his head. 

The malicious voice transformed from Stephen's one into that of his Uncle Ben's voice. "I died because of you. You could have saved me. You killed me." 

Peter sobbed out a weak "no" as the voice then transformed into Tony's. "I died because of you. You could have saved me. You killed me." 

And finally, Peter's legs gave out, Stephen only just managing to catch him before he hit the cold, hard floor. "My fault, my fault, my fault..." The boy couldn't stop saying, as if broken and left empty, tears streaming down his face. 

Stephen panicked as Peter spoke nothing but those two words and began to rock back and forth. 

"Help! I need some help in here!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Please! I need help in here!" Peter could hear Stephen shouting, the feeling of the older man holding him tight in his arms is undeniable. 

"What happened?" Katherine's voice pierced through the head splitting volume of guilty chants emanating from the room around him. 

"He believed I said something, then started to back away from me before he collapsed and wouldn't stop saying that something was his fault." Stephen told the nurse, helping to pick Peter up and get him onto the bed. 

As soon as he touched the sheets a strong current shot through him, as if he was being electrocuted. He shook furiously, his eyes lolling back into his head as he felt paralysed by the pain. 

Only once before has he felt this kind of pain, the kind that fills your entire body. This pain that runs through your veins and to the tips of your fingers and toes. 

The pain that causes a metalic flavour to grow in your mouth until you could almost be sick with the taste of it. Something that makes your teeth clench until you are sure they could shatter under the force. 

The fear that if you caught your tongue between your teeth, you could bite to clean off and leave yourself mute for the remainder of your days. 

This is the pain that is so strong and raw that it makes your entire body feel numb. That even the slightest of movement, the most minute twitch of a muscle, shoots unimaginable pain into your bones. 

You can't breathe, the feeling of drowning without the assistance of water closes the airways to the lungs, gasping harsh ragged breaths when you are sure you are about to pass out from lack of oxygen. 

The blood rushing in your ears prevents you from hearing anything other than the thrumming of your heart and the terrifying sound of your own staggered breathing. 

Peter's mind raced, trying to send emergency messages to his limbs, telling him to escape, to get away from the pain, but the hands holding him down almost burnt his cold clammy skin. 

His brain almost tried to get him to speak out against the pain, to scream, but through his clenched teeth, all that he managed was a few forced grunts and whines.

Peter could no longer feel or hear Stephen, but when he managed to gasp in air next, he slammed his eyes open and saw the man's silhouette against the wall, as if he was pushed there and remained stuck to the rough painted concrete. 

Tears slipped down his face and as he forced himself to keep his eyes open to focus on Stephen's features in weak attempts to ease his pain and ground him to his surroundings. 

He regretted such an action though, due to seeing Stephen with tears in his eyes and hands trembling more than they already did. When their eyes met though, Stephen gasped and suddenly, as if he was released from his bindings to the wall, stepped forward and pointed at Peter. 

"His eyes are open!" Stephen said in horror. "He's awake!"


	9. Chapter 9

Peter sat up with a gasp, looking around his room quickly, trying to assess everything and anything to ensure nothing had changed and that he was still in his safe room. 

He stared, wide eyed at the door when a knocking was heard coming from the other side of the hardwood. "Come in." He said softly. 

The door opened and Peter's breathing picked up as did his heart with the quick pang of anxiety he felt at the sight of a white doctor's coat and stethoscope hung loosely around the professional's neck. 

The doctor's face was covered by the chart board, obviously looking over Peter's records and medical history. 

"Mr Parker. I am your doctor for today, Doctor Anthony Stark is off sick from you killing him." Peter shivered, looking up from where his eyes were glued to the floor. 

"W-What?" 

"The doctor cleared his throat and restated that he was covering for Dr. Stark due to the man being off sick "with the flu". 

Peter breathed shakily and tried to calm himself down, putting it up to his over active imagination and anxiety. 

"I am just going to do a few check ups and examinations then I'll leave you be, unless you have any questions for me?" The man finally lowered the chart and Peter's eyes once again grew wide. 

"Stephen?" 

The doctor looked confused. "Not many people know me by my first name." He pushed ran a hand through his grey streaked locks. "I apologise, have we met before?" 

Peter's jaw could have hit the floor with how wide it dropped open as his brows furrowed in confusion. "We have been seeing each other for nearly three years now, and we have known each other for about six years in total." 

It was Stephen's turn to frown. "Mr. Parker, today is the first time I have met you." And Stephen once more looked down at the chart in his hands, taking note of the little titbits of information stating that Peter was commonly found having conversations with patients that weren't there, talking about people as if they held double lives as well as claiming that he has killed people, even though he has no criminal record, nor any priors to state otherwise. 

Stephen put this information up to Peter having another episode. He paged the nurse and when she walked in with some medications, Peter asked who she was. 

"That's Katherine, your regular nurse?" Stephen said, almost questioning him, but Peter know Katherine, this girl that came in was short, with bright red hair and was on the chubbier side. 

When Peter tried to disagree, Stephen sat down at the chair next to his bed and handed the boy a small medicine cup with two pills in it, both multicoloured and rattled when shaken between his fingers, something that Peter was grateful for.

At least his medication is the same. 

So he took it, both at the same time and chased it with a swig of vanilla flavoured milk, knowing that he needed something filling for the tablets to work into his system, the doctor smiled and patted his back. 

"Now, do you think you can stand for me and strip off to your underwear?" Stephen asked and stood, himself, prepping the chart board for his measurements. 

His height, weight, width of hips, chest and glutes were taken before he was instructed to bend over the bed and remove his underwear. 

Peter heard the gloves being stretched onto the doctor's hands before he felt it, cold and slippery with lube before a finger was pushed into him and felt around for his prostate, the doctor knowing he found it when a small gasp was heard from the boy. 

"Can you cough for me?" Stephen asked with his finger still inside him and with a blush, Peter let out a small forced cough. The doctor let out a pleased sound before removing the finger from one of his most intimate areas. 

Peter was then turned around and very nearly jumped away from the older man when Stephen groped his balls.

"W-What are you d-doing?" Peter questioned, trying to not find his lover, ex-lover, questioning partner, fondling him. 

"I am checking you over for lumps or abnormalities." And as soon as it started, it was gone again, a small whimper leaving Peter without his consent. 

Stephen removed his gloves with a snap, informing the boy that he may get dressed again and quickly wrote down notes on the chart before wishing Peter a good day. 

"If you need me, I am able to be contacted through any of the nurses." And with that, he was gone. 

A headache started forming across the back of Peter's eyes, soon creating small flashes to spark across his vision. 

He needed to lie down.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!  
> NSFW Chapter ahead...enjoy 😉😏😈

Peter groaned, his headache gone but something else painfully throbbed. He tried to turn over and go back to sleep, but when he lifted his hips to turn himself, a sharp electric spike of something very familiar travelled up his spine. 

He arched his back and subconsciously threaded his hands in the thick hair attached to the head bobbing up and down slowly on his cock. 

"Fuck, Stephen..." The boy drawled out which caused the man pleasuring him to pull off with a small chuckle. 

"You imagining Doctor Stephen here, baby boy?" And Peter froze, lifting the sheets enough to look down at who was currently pleasuring him, to be met with deep brown eyes and that familiar cocky smirk. 

"Tony?!" Peter gasped, unable to stop the small groan when the older man sucked Peter's length back into his mouth, humming in agreement. 

"Yup" the man popped the p when he pulled off again. "Just don't tell the nurses, you know that I'm meant to be in my own room." And Peter felt confused, grabbing the man by his cheeks before he could suck his length down again, even though he wanted nothing more than to sink his cock into the genius's throat. 

"Wait!" Peter said through his panting. "You're own room?" And the older man's eyes looked confused before he realised what was happening. 

"Yeah Petey boy." Tony said, crawling up to be face to face with the boy. "Remember? We are in the psych ward of the hospital. You are being treated for Schizophrenia and Anxiety, I have depression and post traumatic stress disorder. We have known each other for 4 years now, being fuck buddies and next door neighbours for nearly the entirety of that time. You got moved to this room after they found a body in your bed within the first two months of you being admitted to the ward." 

Peter felt an overload of information, but instead of questioning anything else, he pulled Tony down by a hand on the back of his neck and crashed their lips together, trusting the man he has loved and looked up to his entire life.

Or at least the life he has created in his mind.

Peter flipped them over and wasted no time in stripping them of their pants, taking his ment- his partner's cock in his hand and watching Tony closely, stroking him exactly the way he knew the man liked, pleased to watch Tony throw his head back and try to stifle a groan against the knuckles of his hands. 

Peter grabbed Tony's hand, and released it from between his teeth, encouraging the genius silently to also wrap his hand around his cock, his eyes growing dark at the sharp gasp the man let out and then smirking when he slipped his cock inside their combined grip to stroke them together. 

"Pete." Tony whispered, as if he was witnessing an angel grow its wings, this caused precome to dribble out and lube up their strokes, making more electrifying sparks shoot up Peter's spine. 

"What is going on here?!" They heard from the doorway, Tony jumping slightly at the voice of Stephen, but Peter couldn't stop himself, needing to chase the high he was so close to. 

"Doctor...please." Peter whimpered, locking eyes with Stephen.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!  
> NSFW chapter ahead...enjoy 😉😏😈

As if on auto-drive, Stephen surges forward and grabs Peter by his hair, twisting his head to the point that he can connect their lips in a heated kiss. 

Peter keened into the kiss, both from the rough treatment and from Tony starting to stroke him again.

Stephen's hand tightened in the boy's hair, causing Peter to pull away from the older man's lips with a gasp and whine at the loss of contact. 

"What do you want, Peter?" Stephen asked as he reached around to help Tony stroke the boy between them whilst pressing kisses along Peter's neck. 

Peter moaned, unsure if he wanted to press back into Stephen or thrust forward into their hands, the pleasure causing the boy to forget the question. 

That is, until a hand connects with his bottom, the gasp that Peter let's out is met with the obvious twitch of his cock as more precome leaks out. 

"You heard him, baby." Tony scalded, smirking as he spanked Peter's arse again and again until it was a lovely pink and the boy between them was gasping out breathy moans. 

"I want you both." Peter moaned. 

"You already have us." Stephen growled lowly into his ear, causing an aroused shiver to travel along the boy's spine, goosebumps rising on his arms. 

"At the same time...in me." And Peter was fearful that he overstepped, because both men froze. Just as he was about to open his mouth and apologise profusely, Tony groaned and grabbed his arse cheeks, spreading them so he could brush a dry finger over his hole. 

"Don't know about you Doc, but my answer is 'fuck yes'." And before Peter heard the Doctor's answer, he felt it in the form of two lube-slick fingers pushing into his hole. 

Peter clenched his eyes shut and moaned, his head falling back to rest on Stephen's shoulder as his hips pushed him back onto the digits.

Tony stole some of the lube, the clicking of the cap alerting Peter to the other man preparing, pushing in two fingers alongside the doctor's slender ones.

"Ah, fuck." The breathy moan escapes Peter's mouth as he can feel himself nearing his first orgasm, and as if sensing this, Tony reaches forward with his other hand and like before, begins to stroke him quickly. 

"Come on, baby. Come for us." And the knowledge that its for both men causes Peter to fall of the edge, trembling through his first, of what is surely to be many, orgasms. 

Thankfully, the two men hold him up as he trembles between them. What Peter doesn't realise is that both Tony and Stephen are lubing up their cocks and silently deciding that Tony would be the first to push himself into Peter's hole. 

Peter's eyes fly open at the first push, the pleasure coursing through him as Tony begins to settle into the familiar warm heat of his boyfriend. 

"Pete!" Tony groans as he finally manages to sheath himself fully in Peter's tight, wet heat. 

Soon, both Tony and Peter are moaning as Stephen starts to push in, the head of his cock slipping in and stopping suddenly to ensure the Doctor won't come suddenly. 

Soon enough, not for Peter though, Stephen pushes in until he is balls deep, all three men panting from exertion. The doctor's fingers trace up the boy's neck gently. 

"You ready for us to move?" And he quickly chuckles as the boy nods enthusiastically, which stops as soon as the men begin their thrusts. 

Tony pulls out and as he begins to push back in, Stephen starts to pull out, ensuring that Peter is always full with at least one of them as well as ensuring that both men can feel each other with electrifying pleasure. 

As both older men race towards their pleasurable ending, their thrusts speed up and start to rub consistently against Peter's prostate, moving the boy between them like a fucked-out rag doll, unable to form words other than the occasional "fuck" or "oh god", but most of the time it is just whimpers and moans from the boy. 

The two older males are grunting as Tony occasionally smacks Peter's arse and Stephen leaves bites and hickies on the porcelain skin of the boy's neck and shoulders. 

"Ah, ah, ah, Stephen...Tony....fuck!" And that was all the warning the two men got before Peter was coming again, clenching even tighter around their cocks, both men coming deep into Peter and groaning at how it slicked their cocks rubbing against each other even more than the lube did. 

Peter slipped into headspace and smiled happily as the men slowly pulled out and left him gaping and clenching down on nothing, but feeling so sated and calm. 

"Peter? Did you hear me?" Stephen said, sounding so far away, to which the boy frowned but still shook his head no. "I asked what was going on in here?!"


	12. Chapter 12

Peter scrambles to sit up and cover himself with the thin hospital sheet, Tony sitting there, unfazed by his stiff cock laying up on his lower stomach. 

"Sup, Doc?" Tony said, his hands behind his head and a lazy smile on his lips that Peter wasn't sure if he wanted to smack or kiss off of his face. 

"Mr. Stark...you know the rules of patients interacting with one another outside of exercise and common room hours. Also, how did you get into Mr. Parker's room?" The doctor ran a hand through his grey streaked hair. "I personally locked it last night and checked all doors again this morning when I started my shift." 

The smile Tony was sporting just grew wider and he shrugged like the cocky shit he was. "I have my ways, Doc." And he then noticed the man glance down at his bare, still erect cock. "Wanna give me a hand? I know you know what you're doing...being a doctor and all." Tony winked and Peter gaped at how brazen he was with the professional. 

Stephen huffed, adjusting his coat before looking over at the boy still covering himself. "You have 10 minutes, then I am coming back to kick you out and give Mr. Parker his breakfast and medications." 

Peter knew that Tony had more quips and witty remarks for the Doctor, but Stephen just left, shutting and locking the door behind him. 

True to his word, 10 minutes later Stephen was unlocking the door and walking in to find Peter still on the bed with Tony pulling his hospital pants back on and walking passed the doctor, patting his shoulder in a way of saying thanks. 

Stephen walked over to Peter and placed the tray of cereal, milk, a small bowl of raspberries and juice down on his bedside table, along with the small cup of medication. 

He sat on the edge of the bed, one leg up so that he was more balanced as he placed a warm hand on Peter's bare shoulder which was mottled with hickies and love bites. 

"Peter. Are you ok?" Stephen asked, genuine concern laced in his voice. 

Peter shook his head and sat up, still gripping the sheet close to his body and not looking the doctor in the eye.

Stephen felt a pang of sadness for the boy as he picked up the small bowl of fresh raspberries, something that he requested they bring in specially for the boy after observing him perk up the first time he was brought the fruit, then getting frozen raspberries when they weren't in season and enjoying the way Peter let out a surprised noise when he bit into a still frozen berry and later described it as mini ice lollies. 

Peter's gaze flicked over to the bowl in Stephen's hand and sat up straighter, finally looking Stephen in the eye and getting a fond smile from the older man. 

Stephen held up a single berry in his fingertips and chuckled when Peter opened his mouth, awaiting his healthy treat with improved emotion, and finding comfort in the happy wiggle the boy did when the raspberry burst in his mouth. 

Soon the entire bowl was finished and while Peter sipped on his juice, Stephen uncapped the individual serve of milk and poured the bottle on the nearly full bowl of cereal. 

Peter gratefully took the bowl in a trade for his juice pouch, smiling in thanks and immediately dug into the food, Stephen eating his own breakfast of an egg, smoked ham, spinach, sun-dried tomato and feta cheese wrap. 

The first time Peter ate breakfast and Stephen watched over him to ensure that consumption was completed successfully, the boy frowned at him and with a mouthful of cereal, asked him where his breakfast was.

When Peter discovered that the Doctor waited until he was finished to consume his meal, Peter ordered that he go and get his breakfast so that they could have a picnic, the boy even sharing a few of his raspberries. 

It was a daily occurrence, Peter eating his berries, cereal and milk with his juice pouch, while Stephen had a breakfast wrap, sandwich or roll with a cup of coffee. 

The doctor wouldn't admit it, but it was his favourite time of day, his heart aching when the boy pouted after swallowing his tablets with the last of his juice, Peter knowing that it meant their picnic was over. 

That day was different though, because when Stephen packed up the dishes he leant over and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, pulling a gasp from the boy. 

"I'll get you out of here, Peter. If it's the last thing I do." And suddenly, the room was dark and all he could see was his bed and himself, the rest of the space pitch black with a thin layer of water covering the floor. 

"Where am I?" His voice echoed in the empty area.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hello?" Peter asked, shivering as he stepped barefoot into the cool water. The only response was his own voice echoing back from the never-ending void. 

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" He asked again, this time louder and with more confidence as he strayed from his bed. 

"Hey." A quiet voice spoke from the dark. It sounded like a child whispering, the voice making Peter spun around quickly, the ice cold water sloshing against his ankles. 

"Over here." And Peter spun quickly enough this time to watch as a little boy ran off into the darkness. 

"Wait!" Peter shouted after him as he began running, the weight of his footsteps causing the water to splash up a great height, some even hitting his upper thighs. 

Peter was panting as he tried to keep up, getting closer to the boy before reaching out and grabbing him by the shoulder to turn him around. 

"Peter?" He asked the boy, who frowned and looked up at him. 

"How do you know my name?" The wide brown eyed boy asked, his curls unruly on the top of his head from the fast running. 

"Well," Peter said with a soft sigh.   
"I am you...from the future." And just as Peter expected the boy's eyes grew wide as did his smile and he started to practically vibrate. 

"That's super dooper cool!" Little Peter said. "So are there flying cars? Is Tony Stark still ruling the world with his technology? Is sandwiches with extra pickles and squished down still one of your favourites?" The boy had a million questions. 

"Woah there, Pete." Big Peter said, holding his...Peter's...the younger Peter's shoulders. "Firstly, no, not sure, and of course!" Peter smiled down at the child who was pouting at the idea of no flying cars. 

"Secondly, where are we?" Big Peter asked, hoping that the boy knows something more than he does. 

"Don't you know?" He looked up at big Peter. "We are in here." He pointed to his head.

Big Peter looked horrified, unsure of what to say or do. "I....am...are we...dead?" He asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

He felt bad, watching the young boy's face before him crumble scolding himself for asking such an awful question to such a young, innocent child. 

"Not so much dead, as you are stuck between two worlds." A familiar voice said behind him and the boy ran away, disappearing into the darkness. 

"No! Wait!!!" And Peter was about to give the stranger a piece of his mind, turning around to yell at the person when he came face to face with Ben. "Uncle Ben?" His voice tremmoured. "Is that really you?" 

And Uncle Ben held his arms out, awaiting the hug. "Hey Squirt." He chuckled and Peter felt warmth flood him at the familiar sound, not knowing how desperately he could miss someone until he heard their voice, their laugh. 

Peter sighed, content, as he sunk into his Uncle's embrace. He wasn't sure if he wanted to rejoice or cry. Then he remembered his Uncle's words. "What do you mean 'stuck between two worlds'? Are you stuck too? Am I dead?" 

And Uncle Ben shushed him fondly. "Peter." And he waited until he knew he had the boy's attention. "All that you need to know, is that this is only temporary. It can be fixed, you just need to find out why you are here." 

Peter looked confused. "I know now why I am here." Ben said, squeezing Peter's shoulder. "I have been waiting here for you, to tell you that I don't blame you for what happened to me. Also," He continued.

"I have been watching you, Peter, and you can't begin to imagine how proud I am of you." He pulled Peter into a tight hug. "However, I am curious." 

"Uncle Ben?" Peter asked, worried. 

"Squirt, how did you end up in a mental hospital?" 

"I'm sorry..." He heard himself whisper, unsure how it was possible when his mouth wasn't open, then dust started pouring in from above, like a flurry in winter.

No...not again...


	14. Chapter 14

Peter watched in horror as little particles fell freely from the sky above him and landed in the water at his feet as well as on his hair and shoulders. 

He wondered if this is what it felt like for those in the Holocaust, standing in the snow and feeling flakes of burnt human remains falling like fresh snow on their hair, noses and reddened cheeks. 

The sheer terror that this could be their neighbour, friend, mother, father, sibling, child or worse...their future sentence. 

There was only a few differences to this and the Holocaust. Firstly, the air wasn't laced with acrid scents of burnt flesh and hair and secondly, those in the Holocaust didn't feel the fire as it burnt their hair, skin, muscle and fat to ash and their bones, teeth and nails to soot. 

However, Peter remembers that day on Titan. He remembers seeing everyone else flake off into nothing and feeling the sheer terror of knowing Tony could be next, but when his toes and fingertips began to heat up and then twinge, as if he was playing with the flame of a candle, he knew that he was to be next. 

He did the only thing that made sense and try to get Tony to fix it. Try and give the billionaire enough time and warning to fight this, but when he no longer had feet to stand on, Mr. Stark held him and lay him on the ground, and looking into the eyes of the man he admired, adored, loved...he was taken back to the day on the rooftop and his words rang in his ears. 

"And if you died...that'd be on me." And all Peter could say as the fire-like feeling continued to crawl up his body until his hand was no longer grasping Tony's arm, was "I'm sorry." 

And he could no longer look at the man that he disappointed, the man that would have to go home to May and explain what happened to her nephew. He wanted to look back at Tony one last time and tell him everything that he always wanted the genius to know about him, but it was too late. 

The invisible flames licked across his cheeks and eyes and he was gone. Until he was lying on the ground at the feet of someone. 

Peter tried to brush all of the fine dust-like particles off of himself and then watched as it bound to itself in the small amount of water and reanimated into himself in his Spider-Man suit, slightly torn and dirty from the battle on Titan. 

He bent over and helped gather his younger self up out of the water. He tried to reconcile himself, remembering that he put this experience up to his imagination, not believing in another Peter from a different timeline. 

He now knows the truth. 

He knows that the voice he heard telling him that "Stephen will find a way out of this" and assuring him that "You will see Tony again" wasn't just his mind attempting to keep him sane, but was an experienced voice revealing the future to him. 

He pushed the shaking and frail figure towards the direction of other voices, belonging to the other Avengers caught up in the snap, in the black void of what he now knows is the soul stone, remembering that a small push was the last contact he had with himself. 

He knew that he, himself in the now, had somewhere else to be. He looked in the opposite direction to where he sent Younger Peter and saw a man standing there who would be about the age of 23 years old, the same age he would have been if he survived the snap. 

Taking in a deep breath, he walked forward to the man and readied himself for what was to come next.


	15. Chapter 15

When he finally approached the young adult, he noticed that he was smiling. "Peter, how nice it is to see you. I have been expecting you." 

The present day Peter stood there and looked at the older male as if he had just sprouted a second head. "What do you mean, you have been expecting me?" He asked, looking the man over to account for any differences. 

"I mean that I have been in your position before and that one day, you too, will be in the position that I am in now." 

"And what is your position, exactly?" The older male hummed, smiling at Peter as if he had just come up with a brilliant idea. 

"You know, looking back on all of the lifetimes of this position, I don't believe any of us had asked that question." He held his hand up as if to stop Peter. "And before you ask, yes, I can see all of the different timelines that this has happened in, and you will too." 

"Is that from Doctor Stephen Strange teaching me the mystic arts?" Peter inquired, curious as to his future. 

"My position is to show you the greatness you have achieved both before and after meeting Tony Stark. I am here to show you that moving on is possible, but you must let go of what you believe to be your fault and start looking to what you are capable of now." 

"And if I say no?" 

The older figure smiled, but not in a warm and loving manner, more as vicious and manipulative, causing Peter to step back in fear. 

"I'm afraid that it is not your choice." And he was grabbed around the upper arm and pulled through a bright light into what he could hear was the busy streets of Queens. 

"Oi! Watch it!" And he was about to apologise, but as he turned to see the commotion, a young man in his home-made Spider-Man suit raced through his chest. 

He remembers vaguely, the feeling of a cold chill passing through him that day, but he put that up to his spidey senses, now he knows it was because he passed through someone...himself. 

He watched on as the younger version of himself caught the car before it ploughed into the full bus. He felt a warm sense of pride at how well he did before he ever had access to Tony Stark's equipment and technology. 

Of course, it wouldn't be long now before he met the billionaire. But for now a voice was filling his head. 

"You see Peter...you believe that without Stark you are nothing, but before him. Before you had Tony, you had your determination and the guts to step out in front of a speeding car to stop it, even though you had no idea you could, simply to save the lives of those innocent people." 

The older Peter placed a hand on his shoulder and away they went again. As they travelled, memories flashed across the blank inky walls. These memories were of times with Tony; fighting with Mr. Stark at the airport hanger, fighting off Vulture with Tony saving him more than once. 

Finally they came to the memory Peter was looking for and a cold chill travelled into his bones, making him tremble slightly. 

"Hey! Hey I'm down here!! I'm down here, Please!!!" And he instantly remembered the weight of the building pressing down on him and how he felt he had once again let Mr. Stark down because he couldn't just sit and stay. 

The collapsed building started to creak and shift ever so slightly and the present Peter gasped, not remembering the chunks of metal, piping and concrete being this large. 

He wanted to help, do everything that he could, but every time he grasped the rough concrete, his hand went straight through. 

"Peter." The older man stated, getting his attention. "You ended up not only saving thousands of people that night, but you also saved Stark Industries. All without the presence or guidance of Tony Stark." 

Another rush of air and this time he found himself in the soul stone once more, spending the majority of the time brainstorming ideas with Stephen, Bucky, Okoye and the others in how they were to escape. 

"You kept everyone sane and happy. Even though on the inside, you were broken and felt helpless. No matter what you did, you saved everyone in your own way. You didn't need your mentor to teach you how to be empathetic and caring, that is just in your nature." 

They were back in the black room where they started and Peter could feel hot tears streak his face in thick tracks. 

"You are worthy of happiness and success, Peter. You always have been, you just need to know that it can happen without Tony at your side. He will always be there for you, you just need to believe. Believe and wake up!"


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, loves.   
> I also feel a bit better haha

"Peter! Wake up!" He sat straight up, panting hard and looking up at the man before him. He looked so much like his Dad. 

"D-Dad?" Peter's voice trembled and the man before him chuckled, amused. 

"No, Peter." He said, extending a hand down to help him out of the water, which he now felt curling his dripping hair and soaking the back of his shirt. "I am you, but 25 years from now. It's my duty to show you how your parents died." 

"No, no, no, no, no, no, nope!" Peter said, gathering himself and walking in the opposite direction to Adult Peter. 

Suddenly the man was standing in front of him, "Oh no you don't..." and with a light touch to his forehead he was being transported to the past, hearing a faint, "I'm sorry, Peter."

He opened his eyes, not having realised that they slid closed during the trip. 

He was sat in a wide and confortable chair that allowed him to see his Mum and Dad in their final moments on a private jet. He sobbed as he knew this was going to be a tough pill to swallow. 

He heard it before anything else, the faint whistling of the missile piercing the air it was flying through, and if he used his senses, he would have heard the small blip of the timer and tracking code. 

He couldn't stop himself from screaming out for his parents, before the white hot light filled the cabin, he could have sworn that his Mother looked directly into his eyes, as if she heard his scream. 

"Please. Please make it stop!" He sobbed and managed to get out between the coughs and gasps of air. 

"Just a few more moments, Peter." The man said, lifting one of the blinds up to allow Peter to view who it was that exploded their plaine and shot them down like game foul on a hunt. 

Peter leant over and peering out the window saw the name plastered on the side. 

Obadiah Stane. 

Peter immediately saw red and somehow managed to force himself from the past and back into the present. 

"Peter, you should know that Stane used to work for Tony Stark, but before that, he worked with Howard Stark and your parents...our parents."

"He has to die." Younger Peter snarled, but the other Peter somehow managed to acquire an ice cube and he proceeded to tell Peter to "hold the cube in the palm of your hand and focus on how it melts, don't focus on anything but the ice.", which instantly calmed and relaxed the boy.

"Obadiah Stane was killed 12 years ago. Once they knew of the attempt on Tony Stark and the death of the Parker's, Stane was sentenced to death by lethal injection." 

"Good."

"It's time to show you what comes next." The older Peter holds out his hand and waits for Peter's response, finally, being greeted by someone or some thing.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes...I was sobbing whilst writing this.

Peter placed his hand into what he believed was his adult palm, but when he touched the skin, he found it cold and clammy, wrinkled and covered in sunspots. 

Peter let out a surprised gasp and looked down at the frail figure before him. "Is your name Peter, by any chance?"

And the elderly man looked up at him and smiled. "I have been waiting a long time for you." 

"Have you been here the whole time?" Peter asked, mortified. 

"No, you silly boy. I have been waiting my whole life from the day I was standing where you are now, wondering when I would be called forth to impart my wisdom on you." 

Peter sighs, unsure if he will be able to take another trip into memory lane, each time he sees his Parents, his Uncle Ben and Tony, the hairline fractures that are holding his heart together begin to spread and the pain of their movement is almost unbearable. 

He knows that all it would take is one more thump of his fractured heart for him to be irreparably broken. 

"Peter? Peter my boy?" He slowly comes back to the present to see the frail figure of his elderly self standing over him. 

Somehow he managed to fall to his knees and slip into a panic attack, his breathing still slightly ragged. "It's ok. I want to show you an alternate timeline where you survived the snap and Tony never sacrificed himself." 

And before Peter could ask who it was that sacrificed themselves for the team, but suddenly he was freezing, as if travelling through a blizzard at 100 miles an hour with the windows down. 

"Mr. Stark? W-What's happening?"  
Both the older and present day Peter recognised the young squeak of his voice and the barren terrain of the planet Titan. 

Ash filtered through the air and instead of Peter following suit, he and Tony embraced in morbid relief. 

"It's ok, kid, we will make it through this." And suddenly, they were on the air ship, travelling through space without the use of engines and thrusters, those two being burnt out in the first 45 days. 

Food and water was slowly starting to diminish and Tony kept pushing bits of his dinner onto Peter's plate. 

Day 67 came around and Peter knew that air would soon be non-existent, only having enough energy to sob weakly at the idea of dying. 

Tony scooted over to him and pulled the boy so he could rest his head on his mentor's shoulder. 

"It's peaceful Pete. You're just going to feel really sleepy and then we will fall asleep, you won'tfeel a thing." And Peter could hear the man's voice tremble. 

Present day Peter was sobbing silently, his hand clamped over his mouth as elderly Peter let a few tears slip down his wrinkled cheeks. 

Peter looked up at Tony and asked him if he could be his first kiss.

And his last, Tony and the other two men thought. And Tony couldn't say no, so he pressed his lips to the boy's chapped ones, Peter letting out a happy sigh, his hand coming up to hold his mentor's cheek before it fell into his lap and Peter was no longer alive, his final moments doing something that je had wanted since first meeting the man. 

Tony gently lay Peter down and sobbed loudly, finally able to be weak and cry, no longer needing to be strong for the boy. 

"Oh god, I am so sorry kid. You deserved so much more than this." His mentor brushed his curls from his eyes and lay down next to him, pulling his limp body to his chest and letting himself finally give into the sleepiness that has been haunting him for the past week. 

Present day Peter turned to the elderly man and begged him to leave this place, trying and failing to not look over at the two bodies, unmoving, not breathing and laying down as if sleeping on the small bed. 

With a click of his finger, they were back in the dark, empty room, Peter unable to support his weight anymore as he fell to his hands and knees, sobbing. 

"I can't." He gasps and coughs. "I can't do this anymore, please, I just want to go home."

"You have always had the power to leave, Peter...you just need to wake up." The elderly man stood up straight and morphed into Stephen, unshaven, unkempt and looking utterly lost as the Doctor no longer had the strength to argue and fight against the sobs.

"Just wake up..."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is awake...or is he?

Peter's eyes opened and he found that he couldn't breathe due to the tube shoved down his nose and into his throat. His eyes felt dry and his lips drier as he realised the bed beneath him was soft and warm. 

He blinked a few times and squinted against the bright lights of the illuminescents above him and he let his eyes search the room, attempting to stay calm so to not gag around the tube. 

He recognised the feeling of a hand holding his and Peter looked over to find Stephen sleeping whilst hunched over his hospital bed, their fingers tinterwined and Peter's first thought was that the Doctor was going to have a terrible pain in his back and that his fingers would be awfully cramped. 

He squeezed the older man's hand and smiled around the tube as he sleepily snuffled awake and then nearly slid the chair into the wall behind him when he stood up quickly at the realisation that Peter is conscious and needs the breathing tubes removed. 

Stephen ran out of the room but quickly doubled back and pressed a kiss to Peter's forehead, whispering, "I'll be back, love." Before resuming his sprint to fetch one of the nurses. 

He came back not 30 seconds later with a nurse in tow who looked oddly familiar. "Hello Peter, it's nice to see you awake. Shall we get these tubes out?" She asked as she gently peeled away the tape without moving the plastic so to not scratch or damage his windpipe. 

"Ok, when I tell you to, you will need to take a deep, slow breath in for me and keep going until it is all out." She looked into Peter's eyes and with a teary nod she grabbed the tubing and took a deep breath. 

"Ok Peter, now." And Peter grabbed Stephen's hand and squeezed it, slowly taking a deep breath in as the tubes slid against his throat and through his nose. 

As the ends began to come out he started to cough violently, Stephen rubbing his back and holding the sick bag nearby in case of any involuntary reactions, trying to placate the boy with words of, "It's nearly done.", "This is totally normal." as well as, "I am so proud of you, baby." 

Removing the tubes felt like hours but really it was over in 20 seconds and as the nurse placed the used tubing into the red biohazard plastic human waste bag, she tied it off and praised Peter with how well he did.

She placed a cup of water on his bedside table with a straw and then told him to try and not talk for a while due to the tubes and not being vocal for a long time. 

"Katherine?" Peter asked hoarsely, recognising the dark hair and rounder figure, someone who he thought was an imposter, was actually standing in front of him. 

"Yeah Peter, that's me. Good to know you have been listening." She nudged Stephen out of his shocked daze and left the room.

The older man walked over to the chair he was previously occupying and picked up the cup and held it over to his mouth, Peter sighing at the relief of the cool water hitting his raw throat, then gasping in pleasure at the flavour. 

His favourite flavour.

"Could you hear me, Peter?" Stephen asked, tears making his eyes appear to be shining in the fluorescent light. 

Peter nodded, remembering all the times he called out for him to wake up and even remembering when he looked over and Stephen was shocked to see him awake. 

As if reading his mind, Stephen recalled that day. 

"You scared me so much on that day. I thought I was loosing you when you went into the epileptic fit, but then your eyes opened and I thought you came back to me, but you slipped back into the coma. Actually the doctors think you slipped further into the coma due to no longer being responsive to light and reflexes." The older male let out a small sob. 

"They declared you brain dead and hooked you up to the machine." He pointed at the life support machine which sent a shiver down Peter's spine. 

"How...long...?" Peter rasped out. 

"You were in a coma for 3 months."


	19. Chapter 19

Peter couldn't understand how it had been so long. He tried to protest but Stephen had reminded him to rest his voice, instead fetching him a small whiteboard and marker for him to use. 

\- I missed you - Peter wrote, pouting at Stephen and hoping to entice the man for a kiss, to which he chuckled and pressed a light, chaste kiss to his lips. 

Peter tried to deepen it but Stephen pulled away with a nip to the boy's lower lip and told him to "behave". 

Peter whimpered at the small pang of arousal at the Doctor's dominating command. 

\- One more? - The boy wrote, smiling up at Stephen, cheekily. 

"What do you say, baby?" Stephen asked, this time knowing full well what he was doing to Peter. 

\- Please, Doctor? - And this time it was Stephen's turn to feel aroused as he leant over and kissed Peter with a hand around his throat. 

Peter placed his hand over Stephen's to encourage him to squeeze harder and gasped into the kiss when the older man did just that. 

But something was off...

Peter traced his fingers over the Doctor's hand on his throat and noticed that he couldn't feel any scars there. 

Pulling away, Peter moved the hand up to his eye line and studied the skin, white, strong and unmarred. Was this a form of magic? 

\- What happened to your hands? - Stephen read the note aloud that was messily scribbled on the board. 

"Nothing, why?" The Doctor looked over them confused, turning them over multiple times to try and see what Peter was seeing. 

\- They aren't scarred. They aren't trembling. Are you using magic? - The Doctor scoffed at the last sentence.

"Of course they aren't scarred or trembling, I'm the best neurosurgeon in the country, I can't afford a tremor. Also, magic isn't real." And Peter very nearly passed out with how fast the colour drained from his face. 

"You feeling sick, Peter?" Stephen asked, noticing his change in appearance and quickly getting the sick bag when the boy nodded, placing it under Peter's chin just in time. 

Stephen pulled Peter's hair back with one hand and the other pressed the 'call nurse' button on the wall behind his bed before placing it on his back to rub soothing circles. 

Katherine came rushing in and seeing Peter's state, walked over with an ear thermometer and a muttering of "oh dear". 

Once Peter's stomach was emptied, Katherine offered him a sip of the flavoured water, which the boy was gracious for, in order to remove the foul taste and odour from his mouth. 

Once more Katherine bagged up the waste in a red human biohazard bag and began to leave when she heard the whimper from Peter. 

"Yes, Peter?" She asked kindly, smiling at him and waiting for him to write his question. 

The squeaking of the marker stopped and he capped it before turning the board around.

\- I'm not awake, am I? - 

And Katherine's smile turned cold and sinister as she replied.

"Of course not, Peter."


	20. Chapter 20

"Get him!" Katherine yelled at Stephen when she saw the boy's eyes dart to the pen on the bedside table. 

Stephen practically pounced on him, but Peter was quicker, grabbing the pen and snapping it so that he could grab the Doctor and hold it to his neck. 

Stephen held his hands up from his position, trapped with his back towards Peter and the boy's arm around his shoulders. 

"Ok, Peter. It's ok, you don't want to do this." The Doctor tried to reason as he felt the sharp, jagged plastic push against his skin. 

"Don't I?!" Peter's voice was hysterical and he was breathing fast. "How the fuck do you know what I want?! How the fuck do you know what I am going through right now?!" He practically screamed at the two medical staff voice cracking with the force he was using it after so long of not talking. 

"Peter, you're having an emotional break, we need to get your medications." Katherine took a step forward and Peter dug the pen shard further into Stephen's neck, this time eliciting a gasp when the rough material sliced into his supple skin and drew first blood. 

"Stay the fuck away from me, you bitch!" Peter growled. "Or this goes all the way into his windpipe, then let's see who is struggling to talk." 

She stook back with wide eyes, hands up in a surrendering gesture as Peter started to stand, not cating about the IV drip being ripped from his skin and the monitors alerting someone to his sudden loss of heartbeat. 

"We are leaving, right now." Peter whispered into the Doctor's ear. "And if you even try to call for help, I'll kill you." Stephen nodded as best he could before motioning to Katherine to move as they got closer to the door. 

Shocked gasps could be heard from the hallway as patients, visitors, doctors and nurses alike witnessed one of their best being held captive by a patient. "Everyone back!" Peter told them, making sure to turn so that all eyes on him could see the crimson copper liquid oozing from where the broken pen was just piercing the skin. 

They walked down the hallway and into the elevator, Peter telling Stephen to push the ground floor button and when he did, he eased the pressure of the pen against his neck, causing Stephen to hiss in discomfort. The feeling of dirty, jagged plastic shifting in your skin was enough to make any sane person shudder. 

But as soon as the doors opened again, the pen was back and Peter was ordering the older man to take them to his car. 

5 minutes later, they were standing in front of Stephen's silver Audi TT. "Get in." He growled, shoving Stephen in the driver's seat and then walking around to the passenger seat before hoping in and handing him the keys back. 

"Drive us home." He said once the car was on and Stephen did just that, pretending to know where the boy meant and pulling out of the parking garage. 

The radio was on and soon enough an emergency broadcast was being played. 

"We come to you with breaking news that Peter Benjamin 'The Spider' Parker. Has escaped Mercy Hospital in downtown Queens. I repeat the notorious serial killer Peter Benjamin 'The Spider' Parker, has escaped from where he was being held, with one of the Hospital's best doctors Doctor Stephen Strange. If you see him, please do not approach him, call the police immediately on 911. I repeat, do not try to approach him, call the police on-" 

Peter shut off the radio in confusion and anger. They were wrong, they have to be wrong...he wasn't a killer...he was a hero...an avenger...

...then the flashbacks started.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a wee bit gory guys...just letting you know xx

He remembers the feeling of his fingers itching as the warm blood cools and dries on his hands, knowing that it's going to be a bitch to get the dark oxidised blood out of his cuticles. 

He couldn't stop the pure manic smile that split his face when he looked down at the dark veins that has creeped itself over the pale clammy skin of his victim which is stretched into a frozen horrified face. 

He wasn't called "The Spider" for nothing. Known for injecting a toxin into his victims and then watching them as their faces twisted into pain and terror before their heart finally stops and blood beings to pool from their mouth. 

He believes that blood is the best way to revitalise the skin, so he smears the still warm ooze onto his face using his soiled fingers and sighs in relief at the feeling of the blood soaking into his cheeks and forehead. 

He doesn't even bother to remove the red body fluid until he is finished with the victim's corpse and then gets home to wash it all off and have something to eat. 

Killing always makes him hungry. 

It has always crossed his mind whether the dead would miss a part of their body. Whether they would mind if he just cut off a small chunk, took it home and cooked it into his meals. 

However, at the same time, he couldn't stomach the idea of slicing and hacking off flesh, so he would stick to smearing their blood on his face, enjoying the feeling of it cracking as it dries when he smiles, his white teeth almost illuminated against the dark shades. 

He got home and watched, mesmerised, as the blood rehydrated in the water and dripped from his body, feeling his cock twitch at the visual of red water running over his member and he couldn't stop himself from wrapping a hand around his shaft and stroking himself, gasping at how good it felt, knowing that it wasn't just water slicking the way, but blood. 

His eyes closed as he stroked faster, having to use his other hand to brace himself against the wall to stop himself from falling as his knees threaten to give out. 

His come mixes into the red water and he shudders with sensitivity, shutting the water off after scrubbing his nails with the brush and soaping his face to remove any missed blood. 

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist after running the towel over his hair to get the excess moisture out of his curls. 

He still felt a bit twitchy and restless, so he pulled on some comfortable clothing and went for a walk.next thing he knew he was walking, no, stumbling, into the ER, leaving a trail of blood behind him and he knew one thing for certain...

He was not aroused by the sight of this blood.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are back with Stephen in his car, where we last left off, Peter had just heard about his escape from the hospital...

"What the fuck is going on?!" Peter asked, confused and dazed, rubbing at his face in frustration, trying not to cry. 

"I'll tell you everything once we get to my home and you put that pen away." Stephen bargained, eyeing the blood stained weapon. 

The window came down and Peter threw the pen out of the moving car, looking to the older man as if to say 'There. Are you happy?!' And the doctor forced a smile, beginning to slow down so that he didn't miss the turn into his estate. 

As soon as the gates to Stephen's private house opened, Peter seemed to visibly relax, as if he truly believed that he was home. "You actually believe we are an item." Stephen stated more than asked, to which the boy nodded. 

"Where I am from, you and I fight in a group of superheroes who work together to save the world from all different forms of evil. We met just before Iron Man, my mentor, died in battle and you took me in, helping me through all of my depression and PTSD episodes, until one day you kissed me to distract me from a panic attack and I kissed back." 

"Wait, Iron Man? As in Tony Stark?" 

"You know him?" 

"The whole of New York knows him. He created a suit to try and help the police fight crimes and catch criminals, but the technology malfunctioned and killed hundreds of people before Stark was able to shut it down. He has been in seclusion for over 20 years now. No one knows if he is actually alive, and the world prefers it that way." 

"20 years?" Peter questioned, trying to process all of the information. 

"Yes, so for you to talk of him being your mentor would be impossible, unless he mentored you when you were 2." 

The two men got out of the car when Stephen parked it and walked into the grand house, even more proof that Peter knew where he was because clear to Stephen when Peter walked into the kitchen and began to make them a cup of tea, before he made his way to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

"I'm not lying, Stephen." Peter informed him when he noticed the shocked yet incredulous look on the Doctor's face. "I have been here before." 

Once the kettle had boiled and the tea was made, once again, showing that Peter knew something more, evident in the exact way the Doctor made his tea everyday. 

"So..." He began, inhaling before starting with how Peter and Stephen met for the first time, while Peter dressed his wound.

" Three months ago you stumbled into the emergency room with a large gash across your abdomen that had severed your appendix in two.

However, before we could even get you on a stretcher bed, you were unconscious and bleeding out, with a massive head wound as well. I was called in to assess the wound on your head while others attended to your appendix. 

As soon as I saw you, I knew who you were and informed the others. We had a guard stationed outside your door but it was almost as if you could sense he was there because, even in a coma, you would sit straight up and scream at him to get out.

There was multiple instances where you slipped into epileptic fits and I was called in again, not only to perform another surgery on your brain, but also because you kept asking and begging for me. 

They were right in believing that you would be more calm when you woke up with me there, so I stayed in your room, doing the regular things that we tell families to attempt, which is to call out to you and ask you to wake up.

The first time it happened, you're heart stopped for 5 minutes, but just as we were about to call time of death, you pulled through.

I spent ages in that room, looking g over patients files, drawing you, making origami animals and even bringing in a few different animals to see if you would respond to them, only one elicited a significant response." 

Peter cut him off. "The Spider?" 

Stephen was obviously confused, but still nodded his head in confirmation. 

"I remember all of that, all of what you told me, the guard, the fits, hearing you calling out my name and telling me to wake up. Even the drawing and origami." 

"I remember all of it."


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter, guys...my bad!

Stephen scrubbed over his face. "I don't understand how that's possible?" He huffed in frustration. "It's actually not medically possible. There has been evidence of hearing things whilst in a coma, but seeing things? No."

Peter couldn't do anything but shrug at the older man, unable to fully comprehend it himself. "I don't know how, Stephen." Peter sighed, trying his hardest to not curl into the man for comfort. "All I know is that I was with you, awake, everyday that you are saying that I was in a coma." 

"You are also saying that you and I are...?" Stephen hesitated. 

"Together? In my world, yes, but here...?" It was Peter's turn to hesitate. 

"Definitely not." Stephen almost scowled at the thought. "I would never associate myself with a criminal, especially a murderer." 

Peter huffed. "But that's the thing. I'm not a murder, at least where I am from." 

"You sure knew what you were doing with that pen to my throat." 

Peter looked down, bashfully. "I'm sorry about that, I panicked." He then reached out to graze his fingers across the bandage. "Does it hurt?" 

And he sighed in relief when the Doctor shook his head, no. "Just stung a little at the bluntness of it." 

Peter than remembered when he first woke up. "You were so loving to me. You even kissed me." 

"Yes, well I knew that you were disoriented when you woke up, so I just went with what felt right and I could see that you held some affection for me, especially when you kept calling my name as you were unconscious, I went with my gut."

Was Stephen blushing? 

"Did...did you like it, though?" 

"I can't say that it was terrible." 

"Can I," Peter took in a pregnant breath. "Can I kiss you again?" 

Stephen didn't even verbally respond, he just wound his hand around the back of Peter's neck and pulled him in, unable to resist the small whine in the boy's voice, as if he needed it like he needed oxygen. 

And when their lips met, Stephen couldn't stop the small moan that slipped out as he exhaled.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, the whump isn't only for Peter...it's for you guys too with the waiting for them to get it on 😉🤣

Their tongues danced around each other, Stephen fighting for dominance against Peter who was submitting easily to him. 

The boy gasped in a moan as the doctor curled his fingers in the short hairs on his neck and tugged so his head fell backwards and Stephen could suck and lick his way down Peter's neck. 

He left a particularly bright purple hickie on the younger male's neck, right over the spot that Peter whimpered when he grazed his sharp canines over it. Smirking against the skin he sucked over the same bruised spot and then soothed it with his tongue. 

Peter's hands came up and wrapped itself in the Doctor's hair, unsure if he was trying to pull his mouth closer to his neck, or to pull him off so that he could kiss him again. 

He got his wish for both scenarios when Stephen kissed up his neck, nipped his jawline and then crashed their lips together. 

Peter crawled over so that he could straddle the Doctor's legs and sit comfortably in his lap and grind down against him, all without breaking the kiss. A moan slipping out when Stephen's hands came to rest on his arse and started to massage the cheeks, just on the right side of painful. 

"Stephen, fuck, I need you." And the smile on the older man's face doubled, remembering what turned Peter on earlier. 

"I'm sorry." He wrapped a hand around the front of Peter's throat and squeezed. "Who?" 

And he could have sworn the boy's eyes darkened to a pitch black with arousal. "Please Doctor. Please touch me." 

And Stephen would have won gold in the shit-eating tournament. "Oh, baby, but I am touching you."

"I need you to touch me down there." and the little shit ground down against Stephen's own erect cock, causing him to rest his head back against the couch and roll his eyes into his head. 

Stephen wasted no time in slipping his hands under the waistband of the hospital pants and touching the soft supple skin of Peter's arse. 

The boy pushed back against the strong hands, grinding his hips to try and get the Doctor to slip a finger in between his cheeks, but also wanting to grind forward and get some friction on his already leaking cock. 

"Please Doctor." 

"Shh, baby, it's ok." He lifted his hips up into Peter's to help the boy out. "I'll take care of you." 

He pressed another kiss to the boy's lips and then pulled his hands out of his pants, which caused Peter to whine at the loss of contact, but he needed to have Peter's full attention for this next part. 

"Peter." He said seriously and very nearly flipped the boy over and had his way with him then and there when Peter looked down at him with wide eyes, flushed cheeks, and swollen lips that were parted as he panted quietly. 

"Peter, I need to know if you consent to this." And the boy so desperately want to grind down and remark with a sassy comment on feeling consenting, but he knew that this is something serious. 

So he nodded his head, verbally consenting before leaning down to capture Stephen's lips with his once more.


	25. Chapter 25

Stephen growled and flipped the boy over onto his back, immediately kissing down his neck and leaving a trail of saliva in his path, to which he blew cool air on and watched as the boy's porcelain skin broke out into goosebumps as he moaned softly. 

Peter thrust his hips up, trying to get any form of friction on his aching cock, but Stephen kept his hips raised, smirking when the boy whimpered pitifully beneath him. 

"Please, please...I need you." 

"How, baby boy?" 

"I want you to touch me." 

"That's not good enough, baby. Tell me what you want." 

"Just fucking touch me." 

"Use that tone of voice with me one more time and I will bend you over my knee and spank you until you can't sit down for a week." 

And to Stephen's surprise, Peter shuddered through an orgasm, coming right there in his pants, moaning out Stephen's name.

The older man couldn't take his eyes off of the boy if he wanted to, and oh boy...he really didn't want to. His back was arched causing his neck to be bared and begging to be marked and held. 

Peter's eyes were screwed shut and his mouth was open wide around a sharp intake of air when his orgasm hit. That dissolved into a moan accompanied with a shudder as Stephen just stared in marvel. 

"Did you just come to the idea of me spanking you?" 

And the boy didn't reply, he just blushed a bright red hue and nodded meekly. 

"Answer me, Peter." Stephen said with a hand in his hair. 

"Yes, please God, yes." 

"Just Stephen will do."

Peter groaned in pain from the lame joke. "Are you going to fuck me or make jokes?" 

And that was the breaking point. Stephen curled his fingers in Peter's hair and pulled him up and off the couch, the hiss of pain from the boy's lips did not go unnoticed, but the doctor had a plan and nothing was going to stop the red he saw from fading away. 

He sat back down on the couch and with his fingers still intertwined in Peter's locks, he ordered him to strip his pants and lay over his knees. 

Peter was quick to obey, noticing that every time he took too long, Stephen pulled at his curls. He was relieved to take his pants and boxers off and grimaced at the slight itchiness the drying cum on and around his crotch caused.

With another pull at his hair and an aroused whimper he made himself comfortable over the older man's knees. 

"You need a safe word, Peter." 

"I-I don't know." 

"It can be anything." 

"Bubblegum." 

He couldn't stop the small chuckle. "Bubblegum?" 

"It was the flavour of the water that Katherine gave me just before I kissed you...in this world." 

Stephen smiled. "Bubblegum it is." 

And he didn't waste any time before he started laying smacks on Peter's arse, focusing his entire attention on one cheek, ensuring that the red was the exact colour he wanted before moving over to the next one. 

"P-please." The boy was trembling. "It's been 25 already."

"Good, you have been counting. Good boy."

And Peter preened whilst still shaking and Stephen realised that it was from a mixture of pleasure and pain, the boy was close to coming again. 

"You will wait until after your punishment to come. Do you understand?" 

"Y-Yes, Sir." 

"Good boy." 

And he started spanking Peter again, having to stop a few times to let Peter come back from the edge so he wouldn't come unexpectedly. 

On the 25th smack to his left cheek, Peter yelled out "Bubblegum" and Stephen stopped, soothing the boy on how well he took his punishment. 

"Stephen, please." 

"Hush, it's ok, we don't have to do anything else." He brushed back the hair from his eyes and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I'm sorry I went too far." 

Peter shook his head furiously, almost to the point of making himself dizzy. 

"No, please. Don't stop." And the only confirmation of what Peter was saying was true and not just to please the doctor was when he felt a hard cock press into his stomach. "I-I need you. Please, Stephen." And he looked up into the Doctor's eyes with his own pleading eyes.

"Don't you want me?"


	26. Chapter 26

He captured Peter's lips with his, a hand cupping the boy's jaw as he deepened the kiss. 

"Of course I want you, baby." And the keen that came out of Peter's throat had Stephen smiling like a predator who had cornered it's prey. "Do you think you could get me ready, gorgeous?" He asked, brushing a curl from the boy's eyes. 

Peter didn't even speak, he just slid off of Stephen's lap and started on getting the Doctor's pants open. 

Peter's jaw very nearly hit the floor as he pulled the zipper down and found that not only was Stephen not wearing underwear, but he was huge, easily the length of his forearm and he felt both terrified and aroused.

The look of shock on his face stroked Stephen's ego nicely and his cock jumped at the idea of Peter trying to fit him in his holes. "Come on, baby...get to it." 

And that kick started Peter into kitten licking the head, his tongue occasionally dipping into the slit, causing the older man to tug on his hair in pleasure. 

By the time the doctor was leaking, Peter decided it was time to stop teasing as he wrapped his lips around his cock and hummed at the feeling of his hard, got cock sliding against his tongue. How it could be so smooth as Stephen started to be so rough with him. 

He quickly learnt how to breathe through his nose to stop himself from gagging as Stephen pushed all the way in, burying himself in the boy's throat that was bulging visibly with his cockhead. He stayed there and grinded in small circles, panting quickly as he came to the edge far too quickly than he was used to. 

"Peter. Oh God, Pete, baby!" His hands twisted in the hair of the boy on his knees and the small whimper which dissolved into a moan that vibrated around his cock and pushed him over the edge, forcing Peter to swallow his cum as he was already down his throat. 

He pulled out once he was finished thrusting further into the boy's throat and couldn't get Peter on his feet to kiss him fast enough. 

"You are perfect." 

Peter giggled, frowning minutely at how his throat hurt again, but unable to say anything before Stephen was pulling him back onto his lap and spitting into his hand to rub the natural lubricant over his hole, trying to stay away from reddened bottom. 

Peter didn't need much prep, much to the gratitude of the older man who promptly positioned himself at the boy's entrance before pushing his head in, moaning with Peter at the stretch. 

"Fuck, are you ok? I can stop if you need me to?" And Stephen did stop at what sounded like a pained whimper as he studied the boy's features which were screwed up and tight. 

As soon as he stopped, Peter's eyes flew open and he almost looked close to tears as he shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no, please! Please don't stop." And he pushed back against his cock, moaning as it slipped in another few inches before he clenched down and stopped. 

"Shit. Are you a virgin?" 

"No, at least, not where I am from...but this feels like my first time all over again." 

"Peter..." Stephen groaned, his head back against the couch, eyes only slightly shut so he could still watch the boy. 

Peter then got off of Stephen and turned around so his back was to the doctor, saying something along the lines of easier access, but Stephen couldn't look away from his arse, especially as he slid all the way down on the first go and only after a short break, began to bounce up and down. 

Stephen was mesmerised by the way his bright red cheeks bounced and jiggled as he used Stephen's cock for his own pleasure, the twitches in his muscles evident of the strain he was putting on his thighs to pleasure both of them, so when Stephen suddenly grabbed Peter under his knees and held his legs open so that he could fuck into his tight hole without Peter doing anything but take what was given to him, Peter felt both relieved and suddenly close to coming again. 

As soon as Stephen stood up and started fucking Peter in the air without the boy's feet, hands or any other part of his body touching the ground, Peter's moans turned from breathy to loud and practically screaming, to which the doctor put it up to the fact that he had found his prostate. 

Peter didn't care that his sensitve arse was smacking against Stephen's pelvis, but he did care that he couldn't hold and kiss and watch the man as he came on his cock. 

"S-Stephen, sir, doctor...?" 

"Fuck...yeah, baby?" 

"I want to s-s-see you. Oh, oh fuck." 

And Stephen let the boy stand on his own two feet, carefully to ensure that he bad his balance, before letting him turn around and picking him up again and pushing his back straight into the nearest flat, verticle surface with his legs hooked over Stephen's arms as he pushed back in, immediately finding his prostate and nailing into it. 

Peter's hands scrambled for purchase and found themselves on Stephen's neck, the hiss of pain indicating where on his neck they were holding on to, but if Peter didn't know any better, the slight pain made Stephen thrust harder into him, so he pushed down on the bandage again and confirmed him theory with Stephen leaning his head forward against Peter's shoulder where he sucked and bit marks into the soft skin. 

"Oh, oh...oh fuck Stephen, I'm coming." And witnessing only a small dribble of cum leaking from the boy's red, abused cock pushed Stephen over the edge and plummeting into pure pleasure as he buried himself as deep inside the boy as possible before releasing his cum and hoping for some twisted way to get the boy pregnant. 

He shook his head clear of the thought when he heard the boy whimper with sensitivity and slowly pulled out before walking them to the bathroom to clean up quickly and then into the bedroom. 

He fed the boy some of the water and berries that he always keeps in his bedside mini fridge before making sure that je was safe. 

"Are you with me?"

"Mhm." And he could tell that it was more a 'yes' bur my mouth is full, rather than a glazed over subdrop 'yes'. 

"Are you ok?" 

He swallowed the blackberry. "Perfect, t-thank you." 

Still shy, which Stephen finds quite endearing. "Shall we sleep?" 

And all it took was a single nod for the older man to put away the fruit and drink before pulling the covers up over them and pulling Peter into his embrace, a gentle kiss in his hair on the top of his head was all that he felt before slipping into a deep sleep to the sound of Stephen's heart beating.


	27. Chapter 27

"What the fuck do you think you are doing in my room?!" 

Peter woke to the sound of someone shouting nearby and as he peaked one of his eyes open to look around the room, he saw an angry Stephen standing over him. 

"W-What?" 

"I said, what the fuck do you think you are doing in my room?!" 

"Stephen, we-" 

"How the fuck do you know my name?" The boy went to open his mouth, but Stephen cut him off instead. "You know what, I don't care, you have 5 minutes to get out of here before I call the cops." 

And Peter scrambled out of bed, forgetting that he was completely naked. "Why are you naked?"

Peter blushed slightly as he turned to look at the same man who blew his mind last night, to ensure that this wasn't some kind of joke, but the boy knew that the disgusted look on his face could not be faked. 

"We were together last night... intimately."

"That's not possible."

"But, you spanked me and my arse is still tender from how good you were."

And the piqued eyebrow from Stephen caused the boy's red cheeks to darken. 

"As good as that sounds, it is not possible because I was at work all night last night dealing with a difficult patient." It was then that Peter realised that Stephen was unbuttoning his cuff links. "I've only just gotten home, 10 minutes ago when I found you asleep in my bed."

"W-What was wrong with your patient?" 

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm too tired to care...he has been in a coma for the past year, but he keeps having seizures," 

Peter's eyes widened. 

"And he also manages to respond to external stimuli. He is the only coma patient I know who is able to sit up, open their eyes, talk and even at times remove their IV drip from themselves." 

Peter feels something warm slowly slide down his arm, and when he looks he sees a thick trail of blood slowly oozing down his skin. He slaps a hand over the wound, grimacing when his hand slides in the slick substance. 

Stephen scrubs a hand over his face. "The poor nurses have walked into his room from time to time to find him lying in a small pool of blood from opening his veins. We have had to cuff him ever since." 

Peter's hand covering the blood suddenly snaps down to his side, as does the other one, terrifying Peter and making a pang of anxiety shoot through his entire being. He stared wide eyed at Stephen, who didn't seem phased at all by his bound appearance, nor was he deterred by the red-stained hand at his side.

"Was this patient, by any chance...called Peter?" He asked, and with a minor lecture of doctor-Patient-confidetiality, the doctor nodded his head. 

"Peter Parker?" 

"How do you know all of this stuff?" 

"Because I'm Peter Parker! And I am about to wake up, any day now." 

Stephen couldn't stop the laugh from spilling forth. "Ok, who ever you are, I think you should come with me so you can see Peter for yourself." 

And the boy nodded, getting dressed into what he found to be perfectly fitting jeans, a science joke t-shirt and a blazer to top it off. 

The ride in the expensive luxury car was the same as the one he experienced yesterday, except Peter wasn't concerned with the new information of him being a serial killer. 

They arrived at the hospital and slowly made their way up to the Intensive Care and Long Term Units. 

Peter started to feel a bit dizzy when they stepped off the elevator. Stephen got caught up talking to a lady that Peter didn't recognise, but as he looked around the hospital he noticed all the same things that he had seen before in the past when he accompanied May to work, or even when he visited her when she she fell ill and eventually passed. 

The last thing that Peter remembered was hearing Stephen call out to him as he saw the backs of his eyelids. 

"Peter?! Wake up!"


	28. Chapter 28

Peter sat up with a start, gasping and immediately recognising the soft bed sheets below him and the warmth of body heat beside him that stirred and reached out for him. 

"Baby, what's wrong?" Stephen cracked his eyes open when he felt Peter shaking and immediately recognising the signs of a panic attack. 

The wizard sat up and wrapped the boy up in a tight hug, pulling him back down to lay curled up together as one hand, shaking and scarred as Peter was relieved to find, ran through his hair as the older man knew it helped to calm the boy. 

"I had the most awful dream..." He shuddered. "I was hospitalised and then I was in a psych ward, I was back in the soul stone and I kept seeing Tony and Uncle Ben, and I was on Titan again, but instead of going away I was with Tony, but we got stuck on the ship and died and then I finally woke up and you were a Doctor again, but this was before your accident and then I was a serial killer and then you had no idea who I was and..." Peter started to gasp in deep breaths, already slipping into an attack and making Stephen sit back up to allow his lungs enough room to expand and get enough air. 

Peter clenches his eyes shut, knowing that if he tried to look around right now, he would get dizzy from the amount of oxygen he was taking in. 

He was sweating, his hands clammy and his cheeks flushed, but he felt cold, shivering constantly as his teeth chattered and his skin rippled with goosebumps. 

He felt like he was underwater, or stuck in a large pot of honey, unable to move quickly or process things at the same rate he usually would, whilst also hearing things that were muffled, like Stephen...Stephen was trying to tell him something.

"Try and slow your breathing for me, baby." He said, rubbing soothing circles on his bare back. "You're here with me and nothing is going to change that. You are safe." 

And Peter, in his irrational state, shook his head vigorously. "No, no, you can't say that." 

"Why not, love?" 

"Because everytime I finally let myself relax and believe that it's all ok, it slips out from underneath me." 

"Well, I cannot be more real than this." And the older man gently pulls Peter closer so that he can connect their lips. 

Peter hiccups through the kiss, tears still sliding down his cheeks occasionally, but he slowly starts to focus on the feeling of Stephen and moves into his lap. 

Pulling away, Stephen holds the boy's face in his hands. "Are you feeling a bit better now?" 

And Peter nods, whimpering when he is held back from kissing the man again. 

"Peter, I don't want you doing anything that you will regret whilst in this state." 

And the boy shook his head, whimpering again, but this time in success as he was able to reconnect their lips, quickly opening his mouth to allow Stephen to explore his mouth with his tongue. 

He hummed in content as he curled his fingers in the older man's hair, tugging on the short hairs at the wizards neck, causing him to growl and nip at Peter's bottom lip, feeling something begin to burn and stir in his lower abdomen at the rough treatment. 

"Stephen, please..." 

"What do you need, baby?"

"I need you to make me feel good."


	29. Chapter 29

"Ok baby, hold on." He managed to sit up a bit more against the headboard before running his hands up and down the boy's thighs and stopping at his underwear. "Can I take these off?" 

"Please." He practically begged and sighed in relief when they, as well as Stephen's underwear, were gone with a flick of the man's fingers.

Peter reached into the bedside drawer and wrapped his fingers around the bottle of lube, handing it over to the Stephen in exchange for a kiss. 

The wizard made quick work of unscrewing the cap and squeezing out just enough to cover his hand and then wrap around Peter's cock, causing the boy to moan brokenly and buck his hips up in a knee jerk reaction. 

Stephen would never get over how beautiful the boy looked the first time he would touch him, skin on skin. How he would stretch his neck out as he threw his head back, almost as if he wanted it marked and kissed, how he parted his plump lips around a moan or a gasp, compelling Stephen to work harder through the pain of his hands to allow Peter to keep making those noises. 

"God you're beautiful." Stephen said in such a way that anyone else would have seen as praying to a divine spirit. 

Stephen wanted to hear more of the boy's delicious moans and noises, so he paused only slightly in order to take a hold of his cock at the same time as Peter's so that he could stroke them both at the same time. 

Stephen's wish was granted as he was met with a sharp gasp from the boy as fire quickly built from the amazing stimulation of rubbing their cocks together. 

"Stephen....oh God, Stephen"

"Yeah, love?" He smirked, like the cocky arsehole he is.

"I'm not gonna last...please, can I cum?" 

And the older man nodded, not wanting to say anything in case he missed a single millisecond of sound from the boy, and it was well worth the silence as it was quickly filled with the raw grunt and moan of Peter as he spilt over Stephen's hand, creating more slick for the man to stroke himself with. 

The feeling of absolute debauchery causing Stephen to lose himself in the pleasure and quickly follow suit as he too shot cum over himself and his lover. 

After a while, they made their way into the adjoined bathroom and took a shower together where they had round two, before towelling off and laying back down in bed to sleep for the remainder of the night. 

They lay there in blissful silence, both still riding their euphoric highs, Peter leaning his head against Stephen's chest while the older man ran shaking hands over his back, using his nails to lightly scratch the soft skin, causing Peter to purr like a kitten. 

"Peter?" 

Peter hummed in affirmation to let the man know he could continue.

"Can you do something for me?" 

"Always." 

"Wake up."


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are in Stephen's POV today and you find out what is going on with Peter

\- Stephen's POV - 

It's been 1,270,202 minutes that Peter has been in a coma, that is 882 days that Stephen has been questioning if the doctors have done all they could, that is 126 weeks that he has spent by his side and that is 29 months that he has been begging the boy to wake up. 

"Stephen." He lifted his head from where he was resting it against the bed. It felt heavy, like he was sick with the flu, in fact, his whole body felt heavy and stiff.

It was probably from the amount of time he had spent in this chair, curled over himself and leaning the top half of his body against the boy's bed so that he can rest. 

At least, he tries to rest in between the spells and conjuring rituals to try and save Peter. 

And that's all that he cares about, saving Peter. He doesn't know what he is saving him from just yet, neither he nor the doctors can understand why he won't wake up. 

His body is healing, perfectly, but according to the doctors, his mind isn't. They say that his mind has trapped him because he hasn't had a chance to deal with severe past traumas and Stephen knows exactly what they mean. 

His Parents.

Uncle Ben.

Titan.

Tony Stark.

May. 

He has gone through so much, and yet he is still so young. He holds the weight of the world on his shoulders and he feels that it is his duty to save everyone, and if one person, one single person slips through his fingers, it ages him exponentially and takes yet another chunk of his humanity. 

"Stephen!" He heard again and this time as he looked the person in their eyes he actually saw them, instead of seeing all of his failings. 

"Christine." He breathed a sigh of relief, remembering the day that he gave up on everyone else in the hospital and demanded that Christine be the head doctor on Peter's case, not trusting anyone else with the care of his boy, his love. 

"Stephen, please, you need to go home and rest." 

He shook his head. "I can't Christine, what if he wakes up?"

"Then I will call you." 

"What if he wakes up and I am not there?" 

The female doctor sighs and slides the other chair across the smooth floor to stand next to Stephen's chair. She sits herself down in the chair, exhaling in relief for her tired feet as she puts her hand on the older man's back, the warmth of it partially relaxing some of his tense muscles. 

"At least let me get you some spare clothes and you can have a shower in the bathroom attached to this room?" She looks over to the small door near the entrance. "I mean, that is one of the reasons Peter is in a private room." She bumped his shoulder with hers. 

"Ok." He scrubbed a hand over his face, and watched as she walked over to the entrance where she had prepared a bag of clothes, a razor, a comb, a toothbrush, toothpaste and some deodorant.

"Christine?" He called to her when she placed the bag on the chair beside his and began to walk out after a quick squeeze of his shoulder. 

"Yeah, Stephen?" 

"Thank you." 

And she didn't reply, all she did was nod her head in understanding and left to go and see to her other patients. 

Stephen pressed a kiss to Peter's forehead, the only place on his face that he could touch without being obstructed by breathing tubes and medical equipment. 

He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time and realised just what Christine meant when she suggested a shower. 

His beard was long and rough, as was his hair. He had bags under his eyes that had bags of their own and his mouth felt like the bottom of a waste bin. He didn't even want to lift his arms to find out what kind of odour would come from his underarms. 

He set the water to hot, hoping to work out some of the knots and tension in his muscles. While he waited for the shower to warm, he combed his hair, cutting it back to a respectable length and then shaving his beard, making sure to collect the hairs and discard of them in the small foot pedal-controlled bin. 

He then brushed his teeth, twice, and by the time he was spitting the foamy paste into the basin for the second time, the room was filled with thick billows of steam and he stripped his pants and underwear to step into the scalding water, hissing slightly at the pain before groaning as it helped to ease his aching joints in his back and hands. 

He made sure to use at least half of the bottle of shower gel to remove any putrid smell from his skin, before he finally shut the water off, towelled himself to dry and then sighed in happiness as he slid the fresh clothes on. 

He gathered his soiled clothes and placed them in the bag noticing the note attached that told him they would be cleaned by the hospital laundry team if left at the foot of Peter's bed. 

He walked out and once more, kissing Peter's forehead before sitting back down in the chair and starting another mind healing spell. 

It's been 1,270,243 minutes that Peter has been in a coma, that is 882 days that Stephen has been questioning if the doctors have done all they could, that is 126 weeks that he has spent by his side and that is 29 months that he has been begging the boy to wake up.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, this is the finale
> 
> I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me on this journey. 
> 
> From the bottom of my heart, thank you xxx

It was another week of spells and incantations. Stephen's hands ached almost constantly now with the amount of magic he was using. The bright yellow sparks lighting the room in a new hue from the fluorescent bulbs. 

The magic aura making the shadows on Peter's face more prominent, which spurred the wizard on through the pain in his joints as he held his fingers in a convoluted shape, traversing the boy's mind blindly in an attempt to reach out to him and bring him back to the now. 

He felt something that was different, something like a wall, no...a boulder, covering something important. He felt his palms flatten against the cool, smooth stone, he hit his palm against it, the slapping crack it made as a sting travelled through to his wrists. 

He was trying to get to something. 

Someone.

Peter. 

"Peter!" He suddenly fell through the rock and granite and ore and came out unscathed on the other side where Peter was laying on the floor of what looked to be the Hospital reception for the ICU and LTU. 

He gently shook Peter's shoulder and called out to him. 

"Peter, wake up." 

And when the boy still didn't respond, he scooped him up and carried him back towards the boulder, but found that he couldn't go through, not with Peter in his arms. 

"S-Stephen?" 

"Hey gorgeous boy." 

"Where are we?" 

"I'm getting you put of here. I'm bringing you home. But..." He looked up at the boulder. "Do you think you can help me move this?"

And suddenly, within the blink of an eye, Peter snuggled further into Stephen's embrace and in the area where the boulder once was, is now just an empty chasm. 

He tentatively stepped forward, checking that he could escape with his love still in his arms and when nothing stopped him, he was quick to rush back to where he started. 

Stephen came back to consciousness with a barely tolerable pain in his digits, instantly relaxing his hands and about to fall back into the chair by his lover's side when he saw Peter's finger twitch. 

He held his breath as he watched Peter's eyelids flutter open and then closed again, over and over, each time his eyes stayed open just a bit longer until they stayed open and began looking around. 

"Peter? Peter?!" Stephen finally started breathing again in short sharp breaths. He slammed his hand on the call nurse button on the wall and shouted as loud as he could. 

"CHRISTINE!" And he didn't need to wait long before she was running into the room and looking at him, terrified, fearful that Peter was experiencing another epileptic fit, ready to get the vacuum to suck the foam from his airways, but stopping short when she saw that the boy's eyes were open. 

"Stephen? Is he...?" And she looked to him again to see something that he never used to do before he brought the boy in nearly 30 months ago. He was crying. 

"Yeah. He...he's awake."

\- - - 

\- Two months later - 

"Peter?" 

"Come find me!" He heard a sing-song reply. 

"Oh you little...you are so going to get it when I find you!" 

And he raced up the stairs in the sanctum, following after the giggling he heard. 

He ran down the hallways, chanting "fee fye foe fum" playfully, still following the giggles being emmited by the boy that were gradually getting louder as he got closer. 

He opened the door to their bedroom to find a lump hiding under the thick blanket. He quietly walked over and at the last minute jumped onto the bed and began tickling the lump, which wriggled and moved, the odd shape letting out squeals and squeaks. 

"Ok, ok, you found me!" And a wild mop of curls appeared from under the covers along with rosy cheeks. 

"There he is. I have been looking for you everywhere!" He pressed a gentle kiss to Peter's lips. "How is my best boy today?"

Peter sat up, knowing that this was a serious conversation. "I had another panic attack this morning. I woke up and I thought I was back there." He rubbed the back of his neck. "How long am I going to keep having these, Stephen?"

The older man held Peter's hand. "I know it's tough and I can't promise that this will go away tomorrow, or that I can promise a date for when these attacks will stop, but what I can promise is this." 

He cupped Peter's cheek in his hand. "I promise you that no matter how long it takes, I will be here for you."

And he was true to his word. Every morning that Peter woke up, terrified and shaking, afraid that he was back, trapped in his mind, he held him close, shushing him gently and reminding him as many times as it took until his breathing calmed and he could repeat Stephen's words. 

"You're awake, baby, you came back to me." 

And with a shaky voice, Peter would reply...

"I'm awake. I woke up."


End file.
